


Art Kills

by fojee



Series: Puzzle Pieces [10]
Category: I Remember You - Fandom, Korean Drama, 너를 기억해 | Hello Monster
Genre: M/M, Multi, OT3, and art, bit of sex, casefic, disturbing descriptions of dead people, the opposite of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-19 08:15:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4739264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fojee/pseuds/fojee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Art is powerful. It moves, or heals... It can also kill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lindra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lindra/gifts), [textbookMobster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookMobster/gifts).



> Thank you for your patience. Also gifting this to my number one cheerleader, Lindra, and my sounding board-sister, textbookMobster who isn't even reading this fic (it squicks her.) but threw ideas at me until I managed to come up with an outline for this.
> 
> This features a lot of imaginary art, and if I were a better artist I'd totally draw them, but sorry I'm not. If anyone knows the artist for child-Min's art on the show, please let me know. I'm a huge fan!

Other pictures of Min's art can be found [here.](http://dreamingmappist.tumblr.com/post/128436829648/cover-for-next-story-in-my-puzzle-pieces-series-on)

 

 

_Psychopaths are assertive. Psychopaths don’t procrastinate. Psychopaths tend to focus on the positive. Psychopaths don’t take things personally; they don’t beat themselves up if things go wrong, even if they’re to blame. And they’re pretty cool under pressure._  
-Kevin Dutton

 

"Let me get this straight. You want me to put your friend's work on my walls, but he doesn't want to take the credit? What kind of an artist is he?"

Hyun sighs. Conversations with Na Bong-Sung-sshi are always an exercise in patience.

"The mystery will just add to the appeal," he says. "And he doesn't want his name plastered on there, because he's just starting a new job and doesn't want his new bosses to think he's not taking it seriously." 

"But I'll get to meet him, right?" Na Bong-Sung asks, then jaw dropping when Lee Hyun's ears turn red.

"Who is this guy?"

"You still owe me a favor, remember? Just do this for me, and we'll call it quits."

"No, but will I be able to meet him? Is he handsome? A flower boy?" Na Bong-Sung harps on, even as Hyun walks away.

"I'll contact you again with a list of the works," Hyun calls behind his back.

\---

Between getting flak about his informal language and being grilled about the artist, Hyun barely manages to work with Na Bong-Sung without trying to kill him. There will be twenty-two paintings in all; some are Min's older works, but the bulk are more recent. Hyun deals with the printers himself to get the catalogues done. 

Min should have been there, but he's swamped at work and is trying to get as much of it finished so he could free up the night of the opening.

Hyun amuses himself with the idea of a second--or was it his third now--career as his brother's manager. He wrote the text for the catalogue himself, though Min made him edit it several times before he was satisfied. It sounds sufficiently mysterious now, with phrases like, _face the darkness inside our own souls_ , and _art requires that we do not flinch from truth_. Bullshit. He is good at producing bullshit.

Then on the night of the opening, he gets a call from the university. His office had been broken into, and trashed. Thankfully, his patient files were in a safe. But he still had to come and assess the damage. 

"It's probably just vandals," the dean attempts to reassure him. "Nothing's too irreplaceable, I hope."

Hyun bares his teeth up at the slashed painting on his wall, one of Min's less macabre pieces, a tree whose extended branches are mirrored in the depth and breadth of its roots. He had _liked_ that one, dammit. It contained no minefields for his memory, and besides, it was _Min's._

He looks down pointedly at his watch. "Nothing but my time," he mutters. Between waiting for the cops to show up, and having to coordinate with his insurance company, Hyun misses most of the night.

He rushes back to the gallery to catch the tail-end of it, but by then there were only a handful of people left milling about, and most of the paintings on the wall had sold stickers by them. 

Min looks like he's having the time of his life, arguing a little too loudly with a guy in a suit and tortoise-shell glasses. 

"A critic," Na Bong-Song explains to him, when he gestures over at the two with raised eyebrows. "And a baby lawyer, of all things. They're fighting over whose interpretation of the painting is right, and name-dropping theories or what-have-you."

"Oh, that's the class you almost failed, right?" Hyun smiles cheekily while Bong-Song splutters. 

"Just because I needed help with English!" Hyun had been his tutor then. It isn't a pleasant memory for either of them, though of course, Hyun likes to remind him once in a while. That sadist.

"So how did it go? In your expert opinion?" Hyun asks, eyeing one of the paintings that feature a woman spread out and dismembered. 

Bong-Song shrugs. "It was an odd group to be honest. There were a lot of psych majors, and people wearing black lipstick and barbed wire, and after sampling that potent wine list of yours, I couldn't tell the cops from the criminals."

_Neither can I, some days._ Hyun thinks. "It sold well," he says instead.

"Well enough. I can cut your mystery artist a check, but something tells me he prefers cash."

Hyun nods. "That would be best, yes."

"Did he even show up?" Bong-Song cranes his neck to look at the hidden corners of the gallery.

Hyun very carefully avoids his brother's location. "He might have dropped by. I haven't talked to him about it yet."

That night, he expects Min to talk his ear off. Instead, his brother is strangely silent, his body thrumming, almost vibrating with energy.

Joon Young calms him down with a hard fucking, while Hyun's eyes watch their shadows in the moonlight. He is hard, but not particularly in a hurry, so he ignores his own need and focuses on the noises they are making. It's enough for a while.

Then Min reaches for him, hand digging into his thigh. Hyun runs his fingers through Min's sweat-drenched hair, then follows the hollows of his face. Min opens his mouth, and Hyun slides two fingers in. Min sucks them almost desperately, and suddenly, watching isn't enough. 

Joon Young, mind reader as always, nudges Min forward until Hyun falls back on the bed, his legs splayed open. Min's mouth hovers over his cock, as if he can't quite focus while getting fucked, and Hyun has to grab his hair and pull him down.

Hyun wants to close his eyes at the sensation, Min's agile tongue, and the way it feels to be swallowed deep. But he doesn't want to stop watching. It is a pleasure in itself, seeing Min getting fucked in both directions, feeling Joon Young's rhythm affect Min's own on his cock. And the sounds and smells surround Hyun like a feast.

Joon Young catches his gaze from over Min's shoulder then rakes his eyes all over him. Hyun feels it like trails of fire down his body, and he comes, bucking up helplessly. Min follows soon after, then Joon Young lets go of his own control. 

They're all boneless and spent, though Joon Young cleans them up and rearranges them so they're side by side on the bed. He places Min between them, and in the light of the moon, Hyun tries to memorize the look of bliss on his brother's face. He kisses each eyelid, touches nose to nose, then licks into Min's mouth to taste himself.

He falls asleep, and the dreams don't bother him for the night.

\---

Hyun doesn't have a particular team on the force, but he works with several groups that deal with the most challenging cases, particularly homicides and other brutal crimes. After a few months, he has his favorites already. Although in this case, favorite means an easy target to needle, and bully, and occasionally manipulate towards the right direction.

One of those is Detective Son Myung Woo, whose mind works just fast enough to catch any insults that might be directed his way. He's not particularly brilliant, but he fascinates Hyun anyway. It must be easy to see things as black and white, when there's no room for doubts in his tiny little brain.

Detective Son hates his guts, but tolerates him for the sake of the job. Barely. There's a lot of that going around. Cops are notoriously insular, and as far as they're concerned, David Lee has yet to earn the right to be one of them. Even if he did solve a number of their open cases. Or maybe that's the reason. Nobody likes to be made into a fool.

His favorite fool knocks on his door a few days after Min's show. Hyun is all set for their latest round of insults, but the expression on Detective Son's face puts him on alert. Whatever it is, it's _bad_. 

\---

A woman is found dead by her boyfriend early morning on a Saturday. Her limbs have been hacked apart on the living room floor. The scene is gristly, and when Hyun arrives at the apartment complex, there are a handful of cops idling outside. Some of them still look green. When he enters the room, wearing those stupid plastic booties and gloves that they insist he don, Lee Joon Young is already inside.

In front of other people, they maintain a friendly and polite distance, so Hyun carefully tamps down on his smile, keeps his eyes turned away, and focuses instead on the body.

The edges of the limbs are rough and tattered; clearly the work of an amateur. The woman was likely dead before the dismemberment began. The knife wound on her torso is the most likely cause of death. Something about the placement of the limbs nag at him, and he has to take a few steps back before it clicks. Min's painting.

His eyes fly to Joon Young's, and the older man nods once. Heart too loud in his ears, Hyun checks the rest of the house, tasting dread on his tongue, and yet hoping... But then he sees it, hanging in the woman's bedroom, the same painting he had last seen at Na Bong-Sung's gallery. A dismembered woman. Min's signature of the infinity-eyes. Min-a.

He goes back to the main scene and barks at the nearest officer to give him what they had on the victim.

Nothing about her seems remotely connected to Min. An ordinary office girl, from an ordinary family living in the countryside, with a grieving boyfriend. Hyun closes his eyes, trying to think. Depending on the time of death, Min could very well have been with him or Joon Young. They don't spend many nights alone these days. And besides, Min had _promised_... 

A sticker. He had seen one beside the painting at the gallery. Someone else had bought it. Feeling like he can breathe now, Hyun scans the rest of the room, looking for the youngest forensic tech. The one who would ask the least amount of questions.

"Miss Kim, could you please come with me." She nimbly steps over the other evidence and follows him down the hall to the bedroom. "It might be nothing, but I need you to process this painting. Just in case."

She's young, but not stupid, and makes the connection. "Ye, sajangnim."

"Give me a copy of your report as soon as you're done," Hyun instructs. "I appreciate it, Miss Kim." He smiles at her, making her blush a little.

Then he sidles ever so casually beside Joon Young. "Time of death?" He murmurs.

"Yesterday between ten to twelve," Joon Young answers. 

Hyun sighs. "You could have led with that, you know." Min was definitely with him all through last night, though it isn't an alibi he could just trot out for everyone.

"And miss your ethical dilemma? What would be the fun in that?" Hyun glares half-heartedly at him then looking down at the woman's blank eyes.

If someone else had staged all this, though... "It's still worrying."

"Indeed."

\---

Na Bong-Sung is being particularly unhelpful. The security tapes had already been overwritten. The victim isn't on the list of guests, and certainly not on the list of buyers, so the chances that the killer brought it with them has increased. The question is why? Also, the question is, why is there no name at all?

"I know this girl. She's an agent for a small gallery south of here. She said she got a call for a list of the paintings from a client who preferred to stay anonymous," the gallery owner excuses. "And since your artist is the same I figured it didn't matter."

"Well how did they pay for it? Or how about an address for shipping?" Hyun says through gritted teeth. "You know what? Never mind. Just give me her contact number and I'll talk to her myself."

"What is this really about?" Bong-Sung asks in bewilderment even as he flips through the card-holder on his table. He takes one card out, and Hyun grabs it from him.

"If the police contacts you, just tell them what you told me," Hyun says instead. "Don't worry too much. Just remember there's no such thing as bad publicity."

He leaves Na Bong-Sung still scratching his head.

\---

The agent, a Miss Cho, is at least able to answer more of his questions. Her gallery was used as the transfer point for the paintings, though the client instructed her to leave them by the loading dock overnight and they were gone the next day. She gives him a list of the paintings, a routing number, and a phone number. The latter two are dead ends. Dummy account and burner phone. Whoever orchestrated this elaborate ruse has some previous experience. 

But the catalogues were only made available on the night itself. This mysterious client had to have been there at the gallery to pick them out by name. Also, given that there were five paintings altogether, there'll be more bodies soon...

Hyun gets an e-mail from Miss Kim from forensics. The painting is clean, though the victim's own hammer and nail was used to hang it. That sounded like an incredible lack of foresight for the same person who planned everything else. Experienced in some aspects, but not others? It's possible this was their first kill. Of this nature, at least. That matches with the hesitation marks on the limbs, but the stab wound being neat. The depth speaks of great strength, though, or great anger.

Hyun heads straight to Min's place.

He has his own key now, but he presses the doorbell anyway. Min is still wearing a suit and tie when he answers the door. For a second, Hyun just wants to peel the layers one by one and surround himself with Min.

But he's here for another reason.

Ever since his talk with his foster mother, they've tried to be more circumspect. No kissing in doorways, no walking so close that their hands and shoulders brush, no sitting thigh to thigh in cafés. Hyun knows they should spend more nights apart, too, but those are a little harder to sacrifice.

Still, it was supposed to be an off night, so Min looks pleased to see him.

"Couldn't stay away?" He murmurs when Hyun has shut the door behind him.

"No, there's... Something happened," Hyun says reluctantly. He hates seeing that smile disappear on Min's face. "Your painting showed up at a crime scene. I tried tracking down the buyer, but I couldn't. Can you tell me everything you remember about that night? At the opening?"

Min leads them both to his kitchen and prepares tea while gathering his thoughts. He's not as smart as his hyung or samchon, but he has a good memory, especially for faces and voices. So much that Hyun finds himself scrambling for pen and paper when Min starts to talk.

"There were sixty names on the guest list. Only forty-two actually came. There were seven crashers. I assume you want me to start with them?"

Hyun nods.

"A student from your university, five feet tall, shoulder-length hair dyed dark brown. She paid particular notice to my flower series. An older man, around early 40's, salt and pepper hair, looked like a cop, didn't stay very long. Two women who arrived together, mother and daughter from their features, with irritating high-pitched voices, pronounced everything gross then left. A man in his thirties, dark skin, cheap suit, came early and looked at everything, didn't seem like the type. An art student, male, young, with a shaved head, had some good ideas. Oh, and your stalker was there for a bit. She looked more interested in finding your whereabouts than the art."

Hyun groans internally at that. "Can you draw their faces? Not Cha Ji An's but everyone else's?"

Min shrugs. "Alright. So did you think I was involved?"

Hyun flushes. "Min-a," he says weakly.

"You did!" Min laughs. "Of course you did."

"We were together all last night so it's a moot point."

"What about samchon? He wasn't with us," Min suddenly points out. "He said he had to finish something at work."

Hyun's eyes widen. And they look at each other for a second, before Hyun bites his lip. "It's not his M.O. Whoever did this is an amateur. I think."


	2. Chapter 2

There are five paintings altogether. Hyun loosely shuffles the pictures around, removing the one of the dismembered woman. The others were: a man hanging upside down, with cuts on his torso; a man impaled on a long stave; a woman with knives covering her back like she had turned into a porcupine; and a man bisected right in the middle.

Which one will it be next?

Each one presents a certain kind of challenge for the murderer to pull off. A man can't just walk in with a painting in tow, as well as the other tools to stage the more complicated scenes. He needed some kind of transport, and might even have to make more than one trip back and forth. Unless he had an accomplice, and that is a possibility Hyun cannot discount. The murderer had lucked out on the first crime. There was an open parking lot beside the apartment complex of the victim, and there hadn't been CCTV to cover it.

It would depend on victimology. Did he choose this victim for convenience? Or was it personal? 

Hyun shuffles the cards again, and then from the line-up, slides one of them down, before picking it up and frowning at it.

 _This one._ It's the woman with knives on her back. In Min's notes, the painting is called _Traitor's Kiss._

\---

Being right brings Hyun little satisfaction. The second victim is an older woman, the mother of three, and on the surface, has nothing in common with the first. Even the crime scene is different. Instead of being found in her home, the woman's knife-studded body was found in an alley. The painting was propped up on the wall beside her.

It didn't even get assigned to the same team, which proves to Hyun how stupid the cops are being. It's not like he erased Miss Kim's forensic report, or steal the painting from evidence.

He only hears about it because Lee Joon Young texts him the pithy details, followed by the coordinates to the alley. He taps Detective Son on the shoulder and shows him the text. "I need a ride."

The detective slams shut the file folder he is reading. "What do I look like, a taxi service?"

"It's the second body," he says, unable to help the patronizing tone in his voice. "Detective Yang's team caught it, but we need to take over."

"I'll call the Director on the way." Detective Son calls his team in quick order. Whatever he could say about him, the man knows what's important.

Detective Yang cheerfully relinquishes the scene. And so Hyun stands beside the detective in front of the painting.

"This is what tipped you off?" The man grumbles. "There wasn't any paintings in the first crime scene."

"Not on the scene, but it was in the victim's bedroom," Hyun says through gritted teeth. "And don't bother tracking it down. It's just a dead end."

Detective Son narrows his eyes at David. "You've been keeping things from me."

"I needed to be sure it was connected. One scene could be a coincidence. Two is definitely a pattern."

"I'll need whatever you found anyway," the man says sourly. "Since you're not a trained detective and could have missed things."

Hyun snorts, but agrees. "I'll e-mail it to you by tonight. What's strange is that everything is different. Victimology is all over the place. It could even be a man next time..." He thinks of the other paintings. Is the killer choosing the same gender as the subject, or was it a coincidence?

"Another thing that's different is that she was alive when the knives were... applied to the body. And there are track marks on her body suggesting she was drugged first," Joon Young interrupts, standing up from his close examination of the body. "Our killer is learning, and learning quickly."

"The knives look like rough replicas of the paintings. Doesn't seem to be something you can get over the counter," Hyun mutters. "Right-handed again?"

"Yes," the doctor confirms. "I'll have to do some tests to narrow down the drug used."

"Yeah, you do that. Cha Ji An, why don't you come with me to talk to the family. We'll see if there's another connection to the first victim," Detective Son orders.

"Ye, sunbae," Cha Ji An says, but her eyes are drilling through Hyun like she can actually see through him.

Great. That's exactly what he needs. A nosy busybody who doesn't know when to quit.

\---

"It's yours, isn't it? Those paintings at the crime scene?"

It is early evening by the time Cha Ji An makes it back to the station. And the first thing she does is look for that jerk to ask him a question.

Hyun narrows his eyes at her. "What makes you think that, Cha Ji An-sshi?"

Cha Ji An bites her lip. How can she say out loud that she had one of his old sketchpads from when he was young, and that she snuck into the gallery to see him? She didn't spend much time looking at the paintings, but she saw more than enough to match some images with the contents of the sketchpad.

"What's going on, here?" They both turn. Planning Director Hyun Ji Soo is standing with her arms crossed. "What's this about the paintings?" She has just been informed about their connection to the crime scenes, and she looks angry.

Neither of them are willing to talk. Finally, Hyun offers. "The paintings were sold through a gallery of a friend of mine. But it's a dead end. An anonymous third party who paid through a fake account. There's definitely a connection; I just haven't found it yet." He sighs and takes out the pictures from his pocket, and tacks them on the board. "They bought five paintings altogether. Whoever this is, he's not done yet."

"What about the artist?" The Director asks.

Hyun glares at Cha Ji An while answering. "The artist has an alibi for both nights in question. He chose to remain anonymous, and his name wasn't in any of the press releases and other promotional material, and therefore it's unlikely that he is a target."

"But he's already involved," Cha Ji An argues. "He could have met the killer beforehand without realizing it. We won't know unless we investigate him."

Hyun counts to ten in his head. "I already asked for his cooperation, and he will give it as long as he keeps his anonymity. I have sketches of people who attended the opening night without an invitation." He raises an eyebrow at her as if to say, _Yes, that's right. I know you were there too._ "The sketches were scanned and are being checked through the database right now."

From the look on his face, Director Hyun Ji Soo has an inkling who this artist is. Wanting to protect Hyun's reputation and the reputation of the department, she interrupts their glaring match. "Let us trust David on this matter, Officer Cha. That is why he was hired after all. And you, keep me informed, alright?" She waits until Hyun nods before heading back to her office.

\---

Choi Eun-Bok does not appreciate being pulled into the Art Killer case, even if it seems like a step up from the citizens' complaints and other drudge-work he is normally assigned to. 

"I need someone I can trust," David had told him. The other man's reasons become clearer when Eun-Bok sees the photos tacked on the board. He knows exactly who painted them.

He agrees anyway.

Detective Son is short-handed enough that he accepts Eun-Bok's presence without a word. He keeps his head down, focusing on going through CCTV footages, or running background checks on anyone even tangentially involved. 

The two victims did not know each other, and seems not to have had any other friend or acquaintance in common. But Eun-Bok does note down something interesting. Both women had been to a mechanic recently. According to the records, they went to two different auto shops and for different reasons. The first victim's car stayed in the shop for a few hours for a simple battery change. The second victim seemed to have been involved in a car accident, and her mini van had to have its fender fixed, and the paint redone.

Yet the dates for their individual car troubles match. Eun-Bok chews on his bottom lip before taking the data to the detective in charge. "It could be a coincidence, but...

"Better than what we've got, which is nothing," Detective Son informs him, scanning through the documents quickly. "My gut is telling me you're onto something here. I'll take Officer Cha and talk to the husband again. Why don't you find out what happened on that day? Look through traffic incidence reports and check out road cameras. We might as well find out who she ran into that night."

The husband confirms the traffic incident report that Eun-Bok digs up. On the night of the seventeenth, the second victim was driving home on Seobu Expressway when a Mr. Li lost control of his vehicle and rammed it into her. Neither were seriously injured, but they caused a severe traffic jam in the area. The first victim was also on the same highway on that night, and her car broke down in the middle of the road, so it could very well be the connection they're looking for.

But by the time they get to a Mr. Li's apartment complex, the detectives find the door unlocked. And inside, hanging upside down, was Mr. Li's lifeless corpse. The painting is unrecognizable now, for it lay under the suspended body and has been covered in blood.

Detective Son curses long and loud, and calls for forensics right away, while the other cops check the perimeter in case the killer is still in the area. 

He isn't, but the crime scene is the freshest one they've seen yet. The forensic techs goes to work as quickly as they could, taking pictures and samples and dusting for prints, while Dr. Lee Joon-Ho directs the lowering of the body. The set-up of the ropes which had been tied to a heavy table leg, and the makeshift pulley drilled to the ceiling leaves the man a little impressed.

Hyun is just pissed. "The sketches didn't match anyone in the system, but it doesn't discount them as suspects. I think we just need to narrow them down as quickly as possible, and then contact the press to disseminate the picture."

"That's a terrible idea. The Chief will never go for it," Detective Son informs him. "Anyway, we have our connection now, so we might figure out who the other two victims will be."

"Are you mad because they ruined your painting?" Cha Ji An asks from behind him. "I'm not sure all that blood will come off."

Hyun closes his eyes. "Don't you have a real job to do, Officer Cha Ji An-sshi?"

"Why don't you want to admit it?" She refuses to be intimidated. "We both know it could only be you. Well, either you or..." Her voice trails off, and Hyun has to swallow down his own homicidal impulses side by side with his panic.

"Even if I admit it, that has no bearing on the crime," he informs her in a cold monotone. "So Officer Cha, I would appreciate it if you _pretended_ to be a professional for the duration of this case, is that understood?"

They're starting to attract attention, so Cha Ji An bites her lip and backs down. He's looking at her right now like she's a bug he wants to step on. She's used to taking that from criminals, but not from him. It reminds her a little of the pictures of Lee Joon Young in old newspaper clippings that she's kept. It's enough to give her the shivers.

\---

And then the results come in, and Hyun stares down at the piece of paper in his hands, feeling like he had swallowed a ball of cold iron. Miss Kim has done him the courtesy of faxing them over to him, but it's too late to do anything about them now.

He expects the perfunctory knock at his door. He opens it, and meets Detective Son's eyes without flinching.

"Your partial fingerprints were found on the door knob," the man informs him, face for once carefully expressionless. Cha Ji An and another officer stand behind him, covering the gaps on either side of the door. In case he runs. "We need you to come with us so we can ask you a few questions, David Lee."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'baby lawyer' in chapter one I got from one of Closer's Suits fic, the one where Mike is a pizza delivery guy. Although I used it in the context as 'baby-faced lawyer.'
> 
> I'm thinking of writing some meta notes on the series and on the show. Anyone interested in that? :) I guess I'm just overflowing with too much feels...


	3. Chapter 3

"Your partial fingerprints were found on the door knob," Detective Son informs him. "We need you to come with us so we can ask you a few questions, David Lee."

That's when things fall into place. His trashed office at the University, to cover up the fact that some items were missing. Items with his fingerprints on them. Easy enough to copy them and transfer them to the crime scene. He was the one who had organized the opening, who had wrangled together the catering, and the printers for the event. The killer might have mistaken him for the artist as well. _Min_ had never been the target; _he_ was.

So now the cops will focus their attention on him, while two more people were slated for death. How would the killer frame him then? That would depend on who the last two targets were.

Hyun's mind works furiously on the problem, even as he follows the detectives who point him towards the interrogation room. He wishes he could have had time to talk to Eun-bok or to Joon Young for that matter. Or at least text Min...

He sits down on the chair in the empty room, and waits with a calm he does not really feel.

But when the door opens, he is taken aback at the person who comes through. Cha Ji An walks towards him carrying a folder and takes a seat on the chair across from him.

"What, did you request to do this interview?" He asks her, eyebrow raised.

"Son Sunbae gave me a chance," she replies, before leaning forward and placing the pictures of the paintings on the table. They were the same ones he had tacked up on the whiteboard. "Why don't you start by telling me about these? With what thinking did you paint them?"

Hyun thinks about asking for a lawyer, but he doesn't want Min anywhere near this case. Or this woman. And who else could he hire? He should have listened better whenever Min talked about his colleagues. 

"They were the products of recurring nightmares," he says shortly. It is true enough.

"Why didn't you want your name attached to them?"

"It's a hobby, and not something that will ever be my day job."

"Do you have any alibis for the nights that the victims were killed?" Cha Ji An shifts on her chair. She should be ecstatic to have him right where she wants him, but she was too conscious of the fact that her superiors were in the room next door watching through the cameras.

Hyun winces internally. He's not naming Min, and he's the only alibi he could give for the time period of both the first and second murders. The third, however. "I think I was in the station all through the time period of the third victim. I'm sure it would be easy to find cameras or witnesses to verify that."

"Then how did your fingerprints get on the doorknob of the victim's house?" She leans forward.

Hyun mirrors her, placing his clasped hands on top of the table. "That's precisely the question you should be trying to answer, Officer Cha. From what I can see, I'm a victim, as well. A victim of a really clumsy frame-up job."

She changes her line of questioning. "Have you ever met the victims before?"

"No," Hyun says, almost out of patience.

"What about on the seventeenth of the previous month? What were you doing then?"

Hyun taps at his lips. An interesting question. "I think that was the day we apprehended the money launderer who killed his partner. You were working with me then, too, remember?"

Cha Ji An leans back, and thinks too. "Yes, then the suspect ran, and then pulled out a gun and he got shot..."

"...And died in the ambulance!" Hyun stands up and paces around the room. "From that place, the nearest major hospital is Gwang Myeong Sung-Ae. The ambulance will have taken the Seobu Expressway to get there, the same highway that the victims had been on when they had their accidents. So I would guess that the ambulance got stuck in traffic. And by the time they made it to Sung-Ae Hospital, it was too late. Quick," he says, snapping fingers at her. "Who actually shot him? You were there, right?"

"Detective Yang and Officer Baek both managed to wound him," Cha Ji An answers.

Hyun leans over the table close to her face. "Find their whereabouts now! They could be the next targets!"

"Ya, how would you know that if you weren't involved in the murders?" Detective Son asks from the now-open doorway. 

Hyun lets out a noise of pure frustration and slips past him out the door, almost-running out to the open area where the desks of the other officers could be found. The others are on his heels, but he ignores them, scanning the room for either of the two men.

Instead, he sees a man dressed like a cop slip out of the broom closet. He had a baseball cap on, subtly shielding his face. 

"Hey you, stop!" He yells. "Don't move!"

The man meets his gaze for one second, then turns and runs for it.

For once Hyun doesn't leave it to the cops, who are still scratching their heads at each other. He runs full-tilt after the man, and tackles him right at the top of the staircase. They tumble together down the steps, and then wrestle with each other at the bottom. 

The man is heavy-set and seems to be made of pure muscle, so Hyun is not playing to his strengths here. He sees the glint of metal, and tries to twist away, but he only manages to deflect the knife, and it skitters across his ribs, parting cloth and flesh.

Hyun knees him in the crotch, and tries his best to roll them over, one hand on the man's wrist to keep the knife pointed away, but he can't get enough leverage. The man headbutts him, and the back of his skull hits the ground and rattles his brains. He's feeling light-headed now, and his side throbs in time with his pounding heart.

Hyun finds himself pinned down, staring up at a face contorted with animalistic rage. He matches one of the drawings Min did, Hyun thinks distantly. The knife seems to be coming closer and closer towards his neck. The blade is splattered with blood. Hyun strains his muscles pushing upwards but nothing happens. For a second, he wonders what it would feel like, to have that blade cut into his carotid artery. 

"Stop! Let him go or I'll shoot!" 

The man snarls but finally releases his grip on Hyun and drops the knife. It clatters down on the floor right beside Hyun's head.

That's when he registers Cha Ji An standing over them. Her gun is cocked, her hands steady as a rock, as she slowly pulls out her handcuffs, while the rest of the detectives arrive on the scene. Within seconds, the man is apprehended, cuffed, and led straight to the holding cells, while Cha Ji An kneels beside Hyun.

He is gasping for air. "Check the closet!" He manages to say before closing his eyes. He remains awake, but lets the chaos swirl around him, while he tries to catch his breath. Before he knew it, a paramedic is shining a light in his eyes, and he is being hauled up onto a gurney, and heading for the back of an ambulance. 

There is second ambulance, for the badly wounded but still alive Detective Yang. They found him in the closet crudely stabbed with a letter opener. Another item that had been missing from Hyun's office.

\---

"This is the last time I'll do you a favor, you bastard!"

Hyun holds his phone away from his ear. Na Bong-Sung had called him on his way back from the hospital. He's still woozy from the painkillers, and his whole body feels heavy as a rock. And the way the taxi is weaving on the road is definitely not helping. His ribs are taped up, twenty-nine stitches altogether, though luckily he hadn't lost that much blood. 

"Relax," he says, weariness almost evident in his voice. "I told you. Publicity can only be good for your gallery. I bet you'll have a waiting list of artists wanting to show their work at your place. You could even swing an interview in a magazine if you play your cards right."

Na Bong-Sung lets out a string of curses, but he subsides soon enough. "I've been getting calls about the rest of the paintings. What should I do?"

"Hold an auction. And sell prints of the ones used in the murder, since the paintings themselves will have to remain as evidence. People like to own things that seem dangerous. It gives them a thrill."

"They're saying you're the mysterious painter behind these damn things. Is that true? Did you get some kind of talent transplant while I wasn't looking?"

"I neither confirm nor deny that I am. And I appreciate it if you did the same," Hyun tells him. 

The other man lets out a huff. "You are such a pain. Why are we even friends?"

"We're friends?" Hyun asks, then hangs up at the other man's screech of outrage. He smiles. It's good to have friends you could (mostly) count on.

\---

"What are you doing here?" Cha Ji An asks him. "You should still be in the hospital!"

"I am fine," Hyun says through gritted teeth, before taking a seat next to her, eyes already trained on the monitors. "Have they started already?" He has checked himself out against medical advice because he needs to be present for the killer's interrogation. 

He needs to understand why.

"I did it for my brother." The words pierce Hyun as much as the knife has done. "You sons of bitches killed him and you need to pay for it!"

"And what about Lee Hyun? Why were you trying to frame him?" Detective Son asks the man from across the table.

"I was watching him from the house, you know. He was laughing. My brother was dying, and he was _laughing._ "

He feels Cha Ji An shift on her chair beside him. Hyun wonders for a brief moment if he should thank her for saving his life, but he finally decides not to. It might just encourage her more. 

"Are you back in Korea because you are looking for your brother?" She asks him in a low voice.

Something tightens in his chest. Careful not to show anything on his face or voice, he turns to her. "What do you know about that? Who are you, really, Cha Ji An-sshi?"

Cha Ji An wishes she can read minds to see behind that opaque mask. "You don't remember me, but I remember you vividly. I remember everything." She takes a deep breath. "I think we could help each other out, Lee Hyun. We're both after the same person, you and I."

Hyun shakes his head. "That's where you're wrong, Officer Cha. I don't know what you think you know about me, but I will tell you this. The past no longer interests me. It's just a useless burden. I want to focus on building my future. And I think I would like very much if you did not show up in it."

He turns back to the monitors, before speaking again. "And if you're thinking of going after Lee Joon Young, don't. He is way out of your league, Officer Cha. The closer you come to catching him, the higher the chance that he will destroy you. You're good at what you do, and in time you could get even better. But you'll never be good enough."

She looks at him like he just stabbed her in the back.

_Sorry, Cha Ji An-sshi. But I will protect my family. No matter what._

\---

Cha Ji An wanders around the station, feeling like she has lost something. She's so deep in thought that she collides with a man. When she stumbles back, he grabs ahold of her waist until she is steady on her feet. 

It's that man. 

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"Ah, yes. Thank you," she stutters out. For some reason, her cheeks feel too warm.

"I guess we haven't been officially introduced," he tells her, still in that slow, deliberate voice. "Attorney Jung Sun-Ho. And you must be Officer Cha Ji An-sshi."

She shakes his hand gingerly. "Nice to meet you," she mumbles.

"Likewise. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other." He smiles at her. "And I wanted to thank you for saving Hyun-a from that criminal. I'll have to treat you to a meal one of these days."

She bows politely, though she's a little embarrassed that he isn't even hiding that he and that jerk...

He seems to read her mind, because he continues. "I appreciate your discretion as always, Officer Cha. I think we can be good friends. Can't we?"

"Oh, of course," she rushes to agree, and he smiles again and walks away, leaving a very bewildered Cha Ji An.

_Why did it feel like I just got threatened?_

\---

"You let this happen!" Min doesn't bother with greetings or small talk, barging into Autopsy and confronting Lee Joon Young. "I know you. You could have prevented this. But you let hyung get hurt!"

Joon Young shakes his head. "Your faith in me, as always, astounds, Min-a."

"Don't give me the runaround, samchon. Not about this." Min stands there, arms wrapped around himself. When he had heard about his hyung's injury, he thinks it might have been the first time he had ever felt fear.

"It was necessary," Joon Young says, voice changing from warm to ice-cold in an instant. "He was being framed, Min-a. The culprit could still have pointed a finger at him as an accomplice. His injury is unfortunate, but it clears him completely of suspicion."

Min is silent for a minute. "Did hyung plan it?"

"Inasmuch as he could. Consciously or unconsciously, he did what he had to do to clear his name."

Min then speaks in a colorless voice. "That man. He can't get away with this."

Lee Joon Young picks up a newly sterilized scalpel, and places it gently in Min's hand. "No, he cannot."

\---

The murderer is being transported from the station to the court for his preliminary hearing when a van rams into the police vehicle. The driver gets knocked out, and both the criminal and his police escort disappear in broad daylight. 

Later, they discover the actual escort tied up in a bathroom stall at the station, with a gash on the side of his head. They chalk it up to an accomplice pulling off a successful escape attempt.

Airports, bus terminals and coast guards are all alerted, but the man known in the media as the Art Killer never shows his face again.

\---

Hyun watches his brother from the doorway. His expression is inscrutable.

Min's, on the other hand, is unusually expressive as he frowns down in concentration at the canvas in front of him. He's going to need to shop for more supplies soon. He squeezes the last of the tube out on his palette, and dabs at it with his brush.

The figure on canvas is spread out and pinned, like a frog to a wax tray, still squirming as it feels the scalpel that slowly peels its skin open. The man is bared for dissection, skin hanging in strips from his torso. But where his heart is supposed to be, there is nothing but darkness. And all around him is a sea of vermilion red.

"What's this one called?" Hyun asks.

Min tilts his head and answers, " _Longing._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Haha. I've caught up to myself so I'm still working on the next story. Which is forcing me to research law of all things. (Courtroom dramas make me deeply uncomfortable so don't expect too much.)
> 
> The case for this fic was inspired by a Japanese drama called Saki. (Watch it if you want to be disturbed. It also features reuniting siblings.) I also owe a spiritual debt to copperbadge's White Collar fic called "Jeffrey Nullier's Man with Fedora." I totally wanted to write something like that. But I thought I'd change things up a bit.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this! Up next: heartbreak. Lol.


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